Roller coating apparatus



B. J WALLIS May 30, 1967 ROLLER COAT I NG APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 8, 1965 INVENTOR. BERNARD J. WALLIS ATTORNEYS B. J. WALLIS ROLLER COATING APPARATUS May 30, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet Filed Dec. 8, 1965 m T N E V m BERNARD J. WALLIS flag ATTORNEYS United States Patent O 3,322,097 ROLLER'COATING APPARATUS Bernard J. Wallis, Livernois Engineering C0,, 25200 Trowbridge Ave., Dearborn, Mich. 48124 Filed Dec. 8, 1965, Ser. No. 512,441 14 Claims. (Cl. 118-227) This invention relates to roller coating apparatus.

It is an object of this invention to provide a roller coating apparatus of economical construction and designed so that it can be serviced easily and without changing the adjustment of the rollers.

More specifically, it is an object of the present invention to provide a roller coating apparatus of the type which includes a pair of top rollers, an intermediate roller and a bottom roller, the rollers, particularly the top and intermediate rollers, being mounted on arms which are pivotally supported on the machine in a manner such that the top and intermediate rollers can be swung to an out-of-theway position for cleaning, servicing, replacement, etc.

A further object of the invention resides in the provision of a roller coating apparatus of the type described wherein the intermediate roller is designed to occupy a fixed operative position and the top and bottom rollers are adjustable relative to the intermediate roller.

Another object of the invention resides in the provision of a roller coating apparatus of the type described wherein the top and intermediate rollers can be swung to an inoperative position for cleaning, servicing and the like without in any fashion disconnecting the drive arrangement for the rollers.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary side elevational View of the roller coating apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary end view of the roller coating apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 3-3 in FIG. 2. v

The roller coating apparatus of this invention includes a base generally designated 10, which houses a motor 12 and hydraulic pump mechanism generally designated 13. A pair of side supports or side plates 14, 16 extend upwardly from base .10. Side plates 14, 16 are laterally braced above base by a pair of bars 18 which extend transversely between the side plates. As is seen in FIG. 1, side plates 14; 16 are generally rectangularly shaped. Each of these side plates is fashioned with an opening 20 therein which extends downwardly from the upper end of each side plate. One side of each opening 28 is defined by a vertically extending edge 22. The other side of each opening 20 is defined by two laterally spaced vertical edges 24, 26 which are interconnected by a sloping edge 28. The lower ends of edges 22 and 26 are interconnected by a semicircular edge 30. The two openings accommodate the ends of the rollers on the device. These rollers include a bottom roller 32, an intermediate roller 34 and a pair of top rollers 36, 38. The support for bottom roller 32 comprises a pair of arms 40 each of which is pivotally supported on the outer face of the two side plates 14, .16 as by a shoulder screw 42. The free end of each arm 40 has a link assembly 44 pivotally connected thereto as at 46. Link assembly 44 comprises an elongated nut 48 into which is threaded a screw 50 provided with a turning knob 52 at its outer end. Screw 50 is trapped on a bracket 54 on the base of the machine by a fixed collar 56. With this arrangement, it will be appreciated that as each knob 52 is rotated in opposite directions, each arm 40 is caused to pivot about its pivotal connection at 42 on its respective side support. Roller 32 is journalled at each end in bearings 58 which are fixedly mounted on the outer faces of arms 18.

Roller 32 has the lower portion thereof disposed in a 3,322,097 Patented May 30, 1967 tray 60 in which the liquid coating material is retained. This coating material might be in the nature of oil, glue, varnish, etc. depending on the type of liquid that is to be applied to the workpiece to be coated.

Intermediate roller 34 is mounted at each end in a bearing 62 and each of the bearings 62 are fixedly secured to the outer face of a pair of arms 64. Each arm 64 is pivotally supported on the outer face of one of the side supports 14, 16 as by a shoulder screw 66 threaded into a mounting bracket 68 on the respective side support. The free end of each arm 64 is adapted to rest upon a fixed stop 70 and is adapted to be locked thereon by a clamping screw 72 which extends through the free end of arm 64 into threaded engagement with a nut (not shown) which is fixed on the inner side of the respective side support.

The top rollers 36, 38 are supported on a pair of arms 76 which are pivotally connected to the side supports %14, 16 as at 78. The opposite ends of roller 36 are journalled in bearings 80 fixedly secured to the outer faces of arms 76. The outer ends of roller 38 are journalled in bearings 82 which are guided for movement in a direction toward and away from roller 36 by guide blocks 84 on arms 76. Each shiftable bearing 82 is fashioned with an internally threaded cylindrical extension 86 into which is threaded a screw 88 provided at its outer end with a knob 90. Screw 88 extends through the vertical leg of a right-angle bracket 92 fixed at the free end of each arm 76. A compression spring 94 extends between the end of extension 86 and the inner face of bracket 92 to urge roller 38 in a direction toward roller 36.

On each mounting bracket 68 there is pivotally connected as by a pin 96 a link assembly 98. Each link assembly 98 comprises an internally threaded link 100, into which is threaded the lower end of a screw 102. Screw 102 extends upwardly through the horizontal leg of bracket 92 and at its upper end is provided with a knob 104. Below the horizontal leg of bracket 92, there is fixed on screw 102 a nut or a stop member 106, and a spring 108 extends between a nut 110 on screw 102 and the top side of bracket 92. With this arrangement, it will be seen that while spring 108 urges the horizontal leg of bracket 92 downwardly against the fixed nut or stop 106 on the screw, nevertheless, when the screw 102 is rotated in one direction or the other, bracket 92, and consequently the free end of arm 76 to which it is connected, is raised and lowered relative to the fixed pivot pin 96. Thus, the spacing between rollers 36 and 34 can be adjusted by rotating knobs 104. This spacing will normally be adjusted to that required for the two rollers 36, 34 to come into pressure contact with the workpiece introduced therebetween. In the event that the workpiece is thicker than contemplated, or in the event that two workpieces, two sheets of steel instead of one, for example, are inadvertently directed between rollers 34 and 36, then the .arms 76 are permitted to pivot upwardly against the base of springs 108 to allow the passage of the thick workpieces between the rollers.

The drive arrangement for the rollers includes a drive sprocket 112 on the output shaft of motor 12. Bottom roller 32 has fixedly mounted at one end thereof a sprocket 114 which lies in the same vertical plane as sprocket 112. A pair of interconnected sprockets 116, 118 are journalled for free rotation as a unit on a stud shaft on which thearm 74 adjacent the side support 16 is pivotally supported. Sprocket 116 lies in the same, vertical plane as sprockets 112 and 114 and sprocket 118 is spaced outwardly therefrom. One end of roller 36 has fixedly 3 126 is retained in a taut condition by an idler sprocket 128 supported on an arm 130 extending longitudinally on a spring-biased collar 134.

As is shown in FIG. 2, the end of bottom roller 32 on which sprocket 114 is mounted has also fixed thereon a gear 136 which meshes with a similar gear 138 fixed on the adjacent end of the intermediate roller 34. Like- ,wise, rollers 36 and 38 have intermeshing gears 140,

positively driven, the intermediate roller 34 will be driven by reason of the intermeshing gears 136, 138. Likewise, since sprockets 116 and 118 are interconnected, roller 36 will be positively driven by chain 124 and roller 38 will be driven by reason of the intermeshing gears 140, 142.

This drive arrangement has several advantages. Since sprockets 116, 118 are journalled at the pivot axis of arms 76, when pins 96 are removed to disconnect the link assemblies 98 from the mounting brackets 68, both arms 76 can be pivoted upwardly in a counterclockwise direction, as viewed in FIG. 1, to a broken line position without interfering with the drive arrangement. Likewise, since intermediate roller 34 is driven through the intermeshing gears 136, 138, the spacing between rollers 34 and 36 can be adjusted as desired without interfering with the drive arrangement. In addition, when screws 72 are released, arms 64 can be pivoted about their pivot axis at 66 upwardly in a clockwise direction, as viewed in FIG. 1, to swing roller 34 to the inoperative position shown in broken lines in FIG. 1 without in any way aflfecting the drive arrangement. It is apparent that with the top rollers 36, 38 and the intermediate roller 34 swung to the inoperative position shown in broken lines in FIG. 1, all of the rollers are freely accessible for cleaning, repairing, replacement, or other servicing. In this connection, it will be appreciated that the removal of the pins 96 which interconnect the link assemblies 98 with the mounting brackets 68 in no way afiect the adjustment of roller 38 relative to roller 36, or the adjustment of roller 36 relative to roller 34. The adjustment of roller 34 relative to roller 32 is likewise not affected by pivoting arms 64 to the broken line position, because the operative position of roller 34 is absolutely fixed by the interengagement of the free ends of arms 64 with the stops 70.

The contact pressure between rollers 34 and 32 is adjusted by pivoting arms 40 about the pivot axis at 42 by means of the screws 50. In this connection, each arm 40 is provided with a circular opening 144 for accommodating the head of the screws 146 by means of which the transverse support bars 18 are mounted on the side supports 14, 16.

An suitable means may be employed for directing coating liquid to the top side of rollers 36, 38. In the illustrated embodiment, these means are in the form of a perforated supply pipe 148 mounted at each end on end plates 150 and connected by a suitable conduit 152 to the pump assembly 13. Side plates 150 are supported on thespindles 154 and 156 of rollers 36 and 38, respectively, at each end thereof. Plates 150 are retained against the ends of the rollers by collars 158 fixedly secured to the spindles. To enable ready removal of side plates 150, they are each provided with a downwardly extending slot 160 for receiving the ends of spindle 154 and a horizontally extending slot 162 for receiving the ends of spindle 156. A spring-biased detent 164 is provided for retaining each plate in position. With this arrangement, the liquid supplied through supply 148 is permitted to accumulate between rollers 36 and 38 on the top sides thereof. Roller 38 is preferably a hard surface, a steel roll, for example, which serves as a doctor roll for the coating roller 38. The thickness of the liquid film applied to roller 38 can be adjusted as desired by likewise determines the thickness of the liquid coating to be mounted on the outer face of side supports 14, 16 r and further enables location of the drive arrangement for therollers on the outside of side supports 16 where it is readily accessible for servicing, etc.

I claim:

' 1. In a roller coating apparatus, the combination comprising a frame including a pair of laterally spaced side supports, a bottom roller extending between said side supports and rotatably supported at its opposite ends thereon, a first pair of arms pivotally supported at one end, one at each of said side supports, an intermediate roller journalled at its opposite ends on said arms, means for securing the free end of each arm on said frame in a fixed operative position such that the intermediate roller is disposed above and in contacting relation with the bottom roller, said arms being adapted to swing upwardly about their pivotal connections with the side supports to swing the intermediate roller upwardly in an arc to an inoperative position where the intermediate roller is accessible for servicing, a second pair of arms pivotally supported at one end, one on each of said side supports, a pair of top rollers journalled on said second pair of arms in tangentially contacting relation, means for securing the free ends of the second pair of arms on said frame in an operative position with one of the top rollers aligned generally vertically with the intermediate roller so that a workpiece may be introduced between said one top roller and the intermediate roller, said second pair of arms being swingable about their pivotal connections with said side supports in an upwardly direction to swing the upper rollers upwardly in an are from said operative position to an inoperative position where the top rollers are accessible for servicing, means for applying coating material to the bottom roller and to the top rollers, and means for driving said rollers.

2. The roller coating apparatus set forth in claim 1 V wherein the driving means comprises a main driving sprocket, a sprocket for driving the bottom roller, a sprocket for driving said one of the top rollers, a pair of sprockets journalled at the pivotal axis of the second pair of arms, a chain extending around said main drive sprocket, the driving sprocket for the bottom roller and one of said pair of sprockets and a second chain extending around the other sprocket of said pair and the sprocket for driving said one top roller.

3. The roller coating apparatus set forth in claim 2 including a gear at one end of the bottom roller, a gear at. the corresponding end of the intermediate roller which is adapted to mesh with the gear on the bottom roller I when the intermediate roller is in operative position.

4. The roller coating apparatus set forth in claim 1 including a pair of stop members on said side supports to limit the pivotal movement of the first pair of arms in a downward direction to said fixed operative position.

5. The roller coating apparatus set forth in claim 1 wherein each of said side supports has an opening therein extending downwardly from the upper end thereof, the opposite ends of said intermediate roller and top rollers extending through said openings.

6. The roller coating apparatus set forth in claim 5 wherein the first pair of arms are pivotally supported on the side supports at one side of the openings therein and the second pair of arms are pivotally supported on the side supports on the opposite side of the openings therein so that the two pair of arms are adapted to swing upwardly in opposite directions from their operative to their inoperative positions.

7. The roller coating apparatus set forth in claim 6 wherein the means for securing the second pair of arms on the frame in operative position includes a pair of adjustably extensible links each having one end connected to its respective arm and the other end connected to the frame, one of said connections being disconnectible independently of the extensible adjustment of the link, the extensible adjustment of said links being designed to determine the spacing between said one top roller and the intermediate roller.

8. The roller coating apparatus set forth in claim 7 wherein each link is resiliently connected to its respective arm to permit separation of said one top roller from the intermediate roller in the event that the workpiece introduced therebetween has a thickness greater than the spacing between the said one top roller and the intermediate roller.

9. The roller coating apparatus set forth in claim 8 wherein the other top roller is mounted on the second pair of arms for adjustment toward and away from said one top roller and means on the second pair of arms for shifting said other top roller toward and away from said one top roller.

10. The roller coating apparatus set forth in claim 1 including means for adjusting the bottom roller in a direction toward and away from the intermediate roller to vary the contact pressure between the bottom roller and the intermediate roller.

11. The roller coating apparatus set forth in claim 1 including a third pair of arms pivotally supported at one end, one on each of said side supports, said bottom roller being journalled at each end of said third pair of arms, means for securing said third pair of arms for arcuate .adjustment on said frame for varying the contact pressure between the bottom roller and the intermediate roller.

12. In a roller coating apparatus, the combination comprising a frame including a pair of laterally spaced side supports, a first roller mounted on said frame and extending between said side supports, a pair of arms pivotally supported at one end, one on each of said side supports, for movement in a generally vertical plane, a

pair of rollers journalled on said arms, said arms being pivotable upwardly to an out-of-the-way position wherein the rollers thereon may be cleaned and otherwise serviced and downwardly to an operative position wherein one of the rollers thereon is positioned vertically above said first roller, the other roller on said arms being mounted for movement toward and away from said one roller, adjusting screws interconnecting said arms and the ends of said other roller for adjusting said other roller toward and away from said one roller, nut means anchored on said frame, screw means on said arms in threaded engagement with said nut means and adapted when rotated to pivotally adjust the arms to raise and lower said pair of rollers relative to the first roller, and means for anchoring the nut means on said frame, said anchoring means being adapted to release said nut means from said frame independently of said screw means and said adjusting screws, whereby said arms and the rollers thereon can be pivoted from the operative position to the position for servicing without affecting the adjustment of said rollers.

13. The combination set forth in claim 12, including spring means associated with said screw means and engaging said arms to permit the arms to pivot upwardly against the bias of said spring means to a limited extent.

14. The combination called for in claim 12, wherein said nut means comprises a pair of links, one for each arm, said anchor means comprising retractable pin members connecting each link with one of said side supports, each of said links having a threaded portion, said screws connected one with each arm and in threaded engagement with the threaded portions of said links.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,218,129 10/1940 Booly et al ll8-227 2,344,427 3/ 1944 Staude 118-262 2,708,874 5/ 1955 Schultz 118-262 CHARLES A. WILLMUTH, Primary Examiner. R. I. SMITH, Assistant Examiner. 

12. IN A ROLLER COATING APPARATUS, THE COMBINATION COMPRISING FRAME INCLUDING A PAIR OF LATERALLY SPACED SIDE SUPPORTS, A FIRST ROLLER MOUNTED ON SAID FRAME AND EXTENDING BETWEEN SAID SIDE SUPPORTS, A PAIR OF ARMS PIVOTALLY SUPPORTED AT ONE END, ONE ON EACH OF SAID SIDE SUPPORTS, FOR MOVEMENT IN A GENERALLY VERTICAL PLANE PAIR OF ROLLERS JOURNALLED ON SAID ARMS, SAID ARMS BEING PIVOTABLE UPWARDLY TO AN OUT-OF-THE-WAY POSITION WHEREIN THE ROLLERS THEREON MAY BE CLEANED AND OTHERWISE SERVICED AND DOWNWARDLY TO AN OPERATIVE POSITION WHEREIN ONE OF THE ROLLERS THEREON IS POSITIONED VERTICALLY ABOVE SAID FIRST ROLLER, THE OTHER ROLLER ON SAID ARMS BEING MOUNTED FOR MOVEMENT TOWARD AND AWAY FROM SAID ONE ROLLER, ADJUSTING SCREWS INTERCONNECTING SAID ARMS AND THE ENDS OF SAID OTHER ROLLER FOR ADJUSTING SAID OTHER ROLLER TOWARD AND 